What better way to illustrate what happens inside an enzyme than with this 3-D model of acetylcholinesterase? Unfold the cube to show the amino acids in the active site and demonstrate how an insecticide affects the enzyme.

How natural selection results in the emergence of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes from a wild population

The substrate, insecticide and mutant amino acid side chain bind to the enzyme with magnets.

The 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Sir Henry Hallett Dale and Otto Loewi "for their discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses". Sir Henry Hallett Dale discovered that acetylcholine is produced naturally in the body. By developing methods for extracting acetylcholine from animal tissues Dale and his colleagues carried out a series of experiments that revealed how the chemical works.

The 5” model comes with acetylcholine, insecticide and a mutant side chain, which bind to the enzyme with magnets. It is made of plaster by rapid prototyping and should be handled with care. Models will break if dropped, held tightly or handled roughly. Its PDB file is 1QON.pdb.

5'' Cube in 4 piecesAcetylcholine SubstrateSerine MutationInsectiside

Cube is made of plaster by rapid prototyping and should be handled with care. Model will break if dropped, held tightly or handled roughly.

3D Molecular Designs and the Milwaukee School of Engineering Center for BioMolecular Modeling continually develop and update lesson plans and other resources for our educational products. Teacher notes, student handouts and other supporting documents vary based on the applications and activities of the kit or model. We appreciate your feedback and encourage you to submit your own lessons, assessments and videos.